Download or read book The Effect of Sea Level Rise on Eelgrass Distributions in Boundary Bay written by and published by . This book was released on 1992 with total page 19 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Quantitative information on the effects of mean sea level variations on intertidal regions is required in light of their importance to coastal ecosystems. One of the areas most sensitive to sea level variations are the eelgrass beds in Boundary Bay near Vancouver. These plants (Zostera marina and Z. japonica) generally populate the outer limits of the intertidal region, requiring periods of both exposure and submergence over the tidal cycle. This report presents results of a study to determine the change in area in Boundary Bay that would be available for colonization by the two species of Zostera for expected values of mean sea level rise. The study employed coupled tidal models for Boundary Bay and the Strait of Georgia, using exposure duration as the single criterion for eelgrass occurrence.

Download or read book Government Reports Announcements Index written by and published by . This book was released on 1996 with total page 532 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate written by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2022-04-30 with total page 755 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the leading international body for assessing the science related to climate change. It provides policymakers with regular assessments of the scientific basis of human-induced climate change, its impacts and future risks, and options for adaptation and mitigation. This IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate is the most comprehensive and up-to-date assessment of the observed and projected changes to the ocean and cryosphere and their associated impacts and risks, with a focus on resilience, risk management response options, and adaptation measures, considering both their potential and limitations. It brings together knowledge on physical and biogeochemical changes, the interplay with ecosystem changes, and the implications for human communities. It serves policymakers, decision makers, stakeholders, and all interested parties with unbiased, up-to-date, policy-relevant information. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Download or read book An Ecogeomorphic Model to Assess the Response of Padilla Bay s Eelgrass Habitat to Sea Level Rise written by Katrina L. Poppe and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Estuaries worldwide are facing the possibility of conversion to open water if accretion cannot keep pace with increasing rates of sea level rise. Recent research into sediment elevation dynamics in Padilla Bay, a National Estuarine Research Reserve in Puget Sound, has revealed a mean bay-wide elevation deficit of -0.37 cm yr-1 since 2002. However, a more mechanistic prediction of the estuary's response to future sea level rise should also incorporate non-linear feedback mechanisms between water depth, plant growth, and sediment deposition. Therefore, I used measurements of sediment accretion rates, suspended sediment concentrations, eelgrass stem density, and above- and belowground eelgrass biomass to build and calibrate a marsh equilibrium model (MEM), developed elsewhere but applied here for the first time to this eelgrass-dominated intertidal habitat. I then coupled the MEM with a relative elevation model (REM), which has previously been applied here, to create a hybrid that combines each model's strengths in mechanistically simulating above- and belowground processes, respectively. The model predicts elevation change under various scenarios of sea level rise and suspended sediment concentrations. I used a 12-year elevation change dataset obtained from an extensive surface elevation table (SET) network in Padilla Bay for model validation. Field measurements indicated sediment accretion rates to be primarily determined by eelgrass stem density instead of biomass or relative elevation. I modified the hybrid model to reflect this relationship, which differentiates it from its predecessors. The model validation exercise revealed the need for an erosion parameter, without which projected relative elevation gain was substantially overestimated. Model projections without erosion showed an increase in relative elevation over much of the bay's elevation gradient over a 100-year timeframe, reaching an equilibrium at an elevation where Zostera japonica stem density is maximized. These scenarios would involve an increase in Z. japonica cover in Padilla Bay, and a decrease in Z. marina cover. In contrast, model projections with erosion revealed a loss in relative elevation along the entire elevation gradient for all but the most conservative sea level rise scenario. The magnitude of loss was predicted to be greater at higher elevations. The suspended sediment concentrations required for the bay to maintain a stable relative elevation were higher than the current concentration of 3.93 mg L-1 for all sea level rise scenarios, with up to 15 mg L-1 being required for the most extreme scenario.

Download or read book Bridging the Gap Between Policy and Science in Assessing the Health Status of Marine Ecosystems 2nd Edition written by Angel Borja and published by Frontiers Media SA. This book was released on 2017-03-22 with total page 548 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Marine management requires approaches which bring together the best research from the natural and social sciences. It requires stakeholders to be well-informed by science and to work across administrative and geographical boundaries, a feature especially important in the inter-connected marine environment. Marine management must ensure that the natural structure and functioning of ecosystems is maintained to provide ecosystem services. Once those marine ecosystem services have been created, they deliver societal goods as long as society inputs its skills, time, money and energy to gather those benefits. However, if societal goods and benefits are to be limitless, society requires appropriate administrative, legal and management mechanisms to ensure that the use of such benefits do not impact on environmental quality, but instead support its sustainable use.

Download or read book Selected Water Resources Abstracts written by and published by . This book was released on 1991 with total page 962 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Bulletin Geological Survey of Canada written by Geological Survey of Canada and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 504 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Eelgrass Climate Change and Sea level Rise in a Pacific Northwest Estuary written by Richard Gwozdz and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 150 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Ocean Acidification written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2010-09-14 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The ocean has absorbed a significant portion of all human-made carbon dioxide emissions. This benefits human society by moderating the rate of climate change, but also causes unprecedented changes to ocean chemistry. Carbon dioxide taken up by the ocean decreases the pH of the water and leads to a suite of chemical changes collectively known as ocean acidification. The long term consequences of ocean acidification are not known, but are expected to result in changes to many ecosystems and the services they provide to society. Ocean Acidification: A National Strategy to Meet the Challenges of a Changing Ocean reviews the current state of knowledge, explores gaps in understanding, and identifies several key findings. Like climate change, ocean acidification is a growing global problem that will intensify with continued CO2 emissions and has the potential to change marine ecosystems and affect benefits to society. The federal government has taken positive initial steps by developing a national ocean acidification program, but more information is needed to fully understand and address the threat that ocean acidification may pose to marine ecosystems and the services they provide. In addition, a global observation network of chemical and biological sensors is needed to monitor changes in ocean conditions attributable to acidification.

Download or read book Advancing the Science of Climate Change written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2011-01-10 with total page 526 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Climate change is occurring, is caused largely by human activities, and poses significant risks for-and in many cases is already affecting-a broad range of human and natural systems. The compelling case for these conclusions is provided in Advancing the Science of Climate Change, part of a congressionally requested suite of studies known as America's Climate Choices. While noting that there is always more to learn and that the scientific process is never closed, the book shows that hypotheses about climate change are supported by multiple lines of evidence and have stood firm in the face of serious debate and careful evaluation of alternative explanations. As decision makers respond to these risks, the nation's scientific enterprise can contribute through research that improves understanding of the causes and consequences of climate change and also is useful to decision makers at the local, regional, national, and international levels. The book identifies decisions being made in 12 sectors, ranging from agriculture to transportation, to identify decisions being made in response to climate change. Advancing the Science of Climate Change calls for a single federal entity or program to coordinate a national, multidisciplinary research effort aimed at improving both understanding and responses to climate change. Seven cross-cutting research themes are identified to support this scientific enterprise. In addition, leaders of federal climate research should redouble efforts to deploy a comprehensive climate observing system, improve climate models and other analytical tools, invest in human capital, and improve linkages between research and decisions by forming partnerships with action-oriented programs.

Download or read book Eelgrass Zostera Marina Ecosystems in Eastern Canada and Their Importance to Migratory Waterfowl written by Mélanie-Louise Leblanc and published by . This book was released on 2022 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Seagrasses are marine flowering plants that create some of the most productive coastal habitats globally and play a key role in the functioning of nearshore ecosystems. The most common seagrass genus in Canada is Zostera and the species Zostera marina (eelgrass) is the predominant seagrass in intertidal and subtidal shoreline zones along the Atlantic, Pacific, and eastern James Bay coasts. Eelgrass has specific habitat requirements, with growth and productivity optimized within particular ranges of salinity, temperature, light availability, and nutrient concentrations. Large eelgrass meadows can impact nearshore environments by filtering the water column, stabilizing sediment, buffering shorelines, and providing habitat for various marine and coastal species, including commercially important species like Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) and lobster (Homarus americanus). Eelgrass is also a vital food resource for migratory waterfowl, notably Canada Geese (Branta canadensis), Pacific Black Brant (Branta bernicla nigricans), and Atlantic Brant (Branta bernicla hrota). Despite their ecological importance, seagrasses are among the most vulnerable coastal ecosystems on the planet. The global loss of seagrass has been linked to a variety of human activities, including pollution, invasive species, and catchment modifications. There is an urgent need to improve monitoring of seagrass responses to environmental change, better document the importance of seagrass meadows to species reliant on them for food and habitat, and advance effective management and conservation of seagrass ecosystems. In this thesis, I investigated the spatiotemporal dynamics of eelgrass meadows in eastern Canada and the importance of eelgrass as a food source for migratory waterfowl, using remote sensing data, long-term monitoring data (biomass, density, and cover), and field observations. In Chapter 3, I used a novel cost-efficient approach for satellite imaging time-series to examine changes in eelgrass distribution and abundance from 1984 to 2017 in a wetland of international importance in northeastern New Brunswick. With minimal ground truth data, the novel time-series approach revealed a slow and steady decline in eelgrass abundance in some areas of the estuary. In contrast, other areas were characterized by highly dynamic shifts in eelgrass cover over time. I demonstrated how time-series analysis can be used to identify potential drivers of seagrass change and the benefits of including time-series analysis in seagrass monitoring programs. In Chapter 4, I contributed to advancing knowledge of migratory waterfowl stopover behaviour by examining the influence of eelgrass and human activities on Canada Geese habitat selection. Combining field observations of Canada Geese and the eelgrass distribution maps produced in Chapter 3, I found that Canada Geese selected areas with high eelgrass availability during periods of low human disturbance, which emphasized the importance of eelgrass as a food source during the fall migration. However, higher levels of human disturbance led to a redistribution of geese away from dense eelgrass meadows. In Chapter 5, I presented new insights into the recent and current state of eelgrass along the eastern coast of James Bay after a drastic and large-scale decline in the late 1990s. By aggregating, synthesizing, and analyzing long-term monitoring data and current surveys, spanning 1982 - 2020, I provided the first quantitative evidence that changes in eelgrass biomass in northeastern James Bay may reflect synergistic impacts of climate change and altered freshwater discharge regimes. Overall, this thesis advances understanding of how temperate and subarctic Zostera marina ecosystems and associated fauna respond to coastal development and climate change"--

Download or read book Tidal Wetland Vegetation in the San Francisco Bay Estuary written by Lisa Marie Schile and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 103 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tidal wetland ecosystems are dynamic coastal habitats that, in California, often occur at the complex nexus of aquatic environments, diked and leveed baylands, and modified upland habitat. Because of their prime coastal location and rich peat soil, many wetlands have been reduced, degraded, and/or destroyed, and yet their important role in carbon sequestration, nutrient and sediment filtering, flood control, and as habitat requires us to further research, conserve, and examine their sustainability, particularly in light of predicted climate change. Predictions of regional climate change effects for the San Francisco Bay Estuary present a future with reduced summer freshwater input and increased sea levels, resulting in higher estuarine salinities throughout the growing season, increased saline influence in brackish and freshwater marshes, and increased depth and duration of inundation. Experimentally testing, monitoring across scales, and spatially modeling the responses of dominant wetland vegetation to the substantial predicted climate change effects are among the critical threads of knowledge needed to understand how this estuary and others along the Pacific coast might respond to significant changes in physical drivers and community interactions. My dissertation research focused on possibilities for wetland resilience in a changing climate in the San Francisco Bay Estuary across scales and using a suite of methodologies. Tidal wetland resilience to predicted sea-level rise requires an understanding of both individual plant and community-level responses in addition their interactions with sediment supply and adjacent land uses. Through a large field experiment simulating sea-level rise, I found that wetland plants have a high tolerance for increases in inundation in the short term and that community interactions need to be incorporated into plant responses to increased sea-level rise. Scaling measurements of plant production up to the site level and across landscapes requires the integration of field measurements with remotely sensed measurements. Investigating remote sensing techniques of measuring carbon stock, I found that the presence of dense standing plant litter common in Pacific coast freshwater wetlands can hinder the ability to find a reliable way of measuring plant production remotely. Finally, I was able to successfully calibrate an ecogeomorphic mechanistic model for wetland accretion across four wetlands in the San Francisco Bay Estuary and examine potential wetland resiliency under a range of sea-level rise scenarios. At sea-level rise rates 100 cm/century and lower, wetlands remained vegetated. Once sea levels rise above 100 cm, marshes begin to lose ability to maintain elevation, and the presence of adjacent upland habitat becomes increasingly important for marsh migration. Results from this study emphasize that the wetland landscape in the bay is threatened with rising sea levels, and there are a limited number of wetlands that will be able to migrate to higher ground as sea levels rise. Despite these challenges, my dissertation presents a robust and new understanding of how tidal wetlands might respond to predicted climate change.

Download or read book National Estuarine Reserve Research System Site Catalogue written by and published by . This book was released on 1990 with total page 56 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Wildlife Responses to Climate Change written by Stephen H. Schneider and published by Island Press. This book was released on 2013-04-10 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Wildlife Responses to Climate Change is the culmination of a three-year project to research and study the impacts of global climate change on ecosystems and individual wildlife species in North America. In 1997, the National Wildlife Federation provided fellowships to eight outstanding graduate students to conduct research on global climate change, and engaged leading climate change experts Stephen H. Schneider and Terry L. Root to advise and guide the project. This book presents the results, with chapters describing groundbreaking original research by some of the brightest young scientists in America. The book presents case studies that examine: ways in which local and regional climate variables affect butterfly populations and habitat ranges how variations in ocean temperatures have affected intertidal marine species the potential effect of reduced snow cover on plants in the Rocky Mountains the potential effects of climate change on the distribution of vegetation in the United States how climate change may increase the susceptibility of ecosystems to invasions of non-native species the potential for environmental change to alter interactions between a variety of organisms in whitebark pine communities of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem Also included are two introductory chapters by Schneider and Root that discuss the rationale behind the project and offer an overview of climate change and its implications for wildlife. Each of the eight case studies provides important information about how biotic systems respond to climatic variables, and how a changing climate may affect biotic systems in the future. They also acknowledge the inherent complexities of problems likely to arise from changes in climate, and demonstrate the types of scientific questions that need to be explored in order to improve our understanding of how climate change and other human disturbances affect wildlife and ecosystems. Wildlife Responses to Climate Change is an important addition to the body of knowledge critical to scientists, resource managers, and policymakers in understanding and shaping solutions to problems caused by climate change. It provides a useful resource for students and scientists studying the effects of climate change on wildlife and will assist resource managers and other wildlife professionals to better understand factors affecting the species they are striving to conserve.

Download or read book Fraser River Delta British Columbia written by Geological Survey of Canada and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 950 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Modelling Floodplain Biogeomorphology written by Martin Josephus Baptist and published by Delft University Press. This book was released on 2005 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There is an increasing awareness that rivers need more room in order to safeguard flood safety under climate change conditions. Contemporary river management is creating room in the floodplains and allowing, within certain bounds, natural processes of sedimentation and erosion. One of the aims is to restore dynamic conditions, so as to get a sustainable and more diverse river ecosystem that can cope with floods. This new approach requires understanding of the interaction between the biotic and abiotic components of river systems. More specifically, it requires a better understanding of the interaction between flora and fauna and geomorphological factors. This is the object of investigation of the interdiscipline of biogeomorphology. Modelling biogeomorphological processes in river floodplains is the topic of this thesis.

Download or read book Ecosystem Models of Chesapeake Bay 1994 1996 written by and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: